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Today I saw some covered autoracks at a crossing and noted some had built dates of 1973.
Does anyone know if they would have been covered in 1973?
Does anyone make a model of an autorack that has a built date of 1973 or 74 without a consolidated stencil? Therefore all I have to do is put an ACI plate on it.
I'm looking for a covered autorack that would be appropriate for the summer of 74.
I have an open autorack that is appropriate for 74, but would love to have a covered one.
Here is a photo of the model I have and the prototype.
Early bi-level auto racks 1st had siding of corrugated metal applied to the sides to decrease the damage from bullet holes in the vehicles. The earliest I find photos of fully enclosed autoracks is the 1980's.
Early bi-level auto racks 1st had siding of corrugated metal applied to the sides to decrease the damage from bullet holes in the vehicles. The earliest I find photos of fully enclosed autoracks is the 1980's.
This model has a built date of 1972, but I notice a consolidated stencil on it. Do you think this one might be appropriate for 1974? Perhaps I can paint out the stencils, but I think they may be OK cause I think the mandate was that all freight cars were to begin having stencils applied was in July 1974.
Now I'm wondering when they started applying the corrugated metal to the sides. If applying the metal to the sides is considered a rebuilt date, I may be able to get away with the stencils.
Some of the earliest fully-enclosed racks were built in the mid 1970s, so it's technically possible, but far more likely that the flatcar was re-racked at some point. (The rack and flatcar are technically different parts. The flatcar, built in 1973, could have originally had an open rack that was removed and a new enclosed rack added.)
Like this?
Now I'm wondering when they started applying the corrugated metal to the sides. If applying the metal to the sides is considered a rebuilt date, I may be able to get away with the stencils.
